2020: The year in reflection
The annual “best of” columns have appeared this past week in the papers and blogs. It’s usually a fulsome summary of 12 months of the finest live events and recordings, but we all know that 2020 has not been a usual year. Last December 31, I contributed a summary of what I felt were some of the musical highlights of 2019 with the feeling that classical music had been almost completely ignored by the round-ups in Toronto’s daily papers. What follows is a subjective summary of cultural highlights of 2020, both in-person (in January, February and early March) and online for the rest of the year, in tremendous gratitude to the individuals and organizations for their creativity and dedication to art. In no particular order:
LIVE:
LA Chorale at Koerner Hall: The Lagrime di San Pietro by Orlando di Lassus is a seminal 16th century a cappella work. Staged by Peter Sellars and performed with great skill and compassion by the LA Chorale, this was 90 minutes of riveting and gorgeous music-making.
Mother’s Daughter (Kate Hennig) and Jesus Hopped the A Train (Stephen Adly Guirgis) - Two of the only live stage plays I saw this year - both at Soulpepper and both excellent productions of thought-provoking, gripping dramas.
The Indigo Project - I was privileged to be part of this outstanding production by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir, the latest brainchild of the endlessly creative Alison MacKay. Featuring the dynamic father-daughter duo of Trichy and Suba Sankaran, soprano/dancer/narrator Cynthia Smithers and the choirs of Earl Haig and Unionville High Schools, it was a colourful, wide-ranging investigation of the dye trade in the 18th century with a fantastic program of music.
SHHH Ensemble at the Canadian Music Centre - this innovative and highly-talented duo of pianist Edana Higham and percussionist Zac Pulak presented a fascinating program of contemporary works by Andy Akiho, Micheline Roi, John Beckwith, Kelly-Marie Murphy and others.
Barber of Seville - The sensational Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo and conductor Speranza Scappucci were absolute standouts in this entertaining Canadian Opera Company production.
Jacqueline - Tapestry Opera’s world premiere of this two-hander about the British cellist Jacqueline Du Pré featured outstanding performances by soprano Marnie Breckenridge and cellist Matt Haimovitz and creative direction by Tapestry’s Michael Hidetoshi Mori.
ONLINE:
Tapestry X: Krisztina Szabó and Chris Foley presented one of the first online recitals of the pandemic, live from the Ernest Balmer Studio and it was a tremendously moving, intimate, human and generous offering of a beautiful program.
Toronto Summer Music: Artistic Director Jonathan Crow curated a rich and stimulating combination of online concerts, masterclasses and interviews. A highlight for me was the masterclass by violinist James Ehnes.
Music at Port Milford: There were no summer music camps in 2020, but the good folks at Music at Port Milford forged ahead with an online chamber music program for young people, with masterclasses, lectures, workshops and recitals. A highlight - and one of the best concerts all year, in my opinion - was the recital by violinists Curtis Stewart and Min-Jeong Ko, featuring music by Ysaÿe and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson.
Electric Messiah: Soundstreams’ annual funky presentation moved online with a beautifully-filmed, deeply affecting production directed by Rob Kempson and featuring singers Teiya Kasahara, Jonathan MacArthur, Andrew Adridge and Lindsay McIntyre and dancer Lybido. Gripping re-imaginings of familiar arias and choruses with the standout being Adridge’s “The people that walked in darkness”, a brave, raw and searing performance.
There were so many other fantastic shows this year and we should be grateful for the dozens of organizations, large and small, who present great music in provocative and stimulating ways.
Special kudos to the many organizations who presented round-table discussions addressing longstanding inequities in programming, BIPOC representation and straight-out racism in the Canadian cultural community. Two of the most affecting for me were the Stratford Festival’s “Black Like Me” and “Ndo-Mshkogaabwimi – We are Standing Strong”.
A personal shout-out to Suba Sankaran and Dylan Bell, who are FreePlay, for their FreePlay Fridays,,,hour-long concerts from their home each and every Friday at 4, featuring their incredible “live looping” and their beautiful positive spirits, on YouTube.
We lost many musical giants this year, including Salome Bey, Claude Bolling, Julian Bream, Brent Carver, Nick Cordero, Victor Feldbrill, Leon Fleischer, Mirella Freni, Kenneth Gilbert, Ida Haendel, Lyn Harrell, Gil Scott-Heron, Neil Peart, Krzysztof Penderecki, John Prine, Ezra Schabas, Peter Serkin, Joseph Shabalala, McCoy Tyner and Erin Wall. May they rest in peace and may their tremendous musical contributions not be forgotten.
Finally, if I were to pick one, single, uplifting, brilliant musical gem from this rotten year, it would be Old Straw Hat, featuring Drew Jurecka, Rebecca Wolkstein and their beautiful daughters. You can find it on YouTube (over 14,000 views later). It’s simply priceless and will make you smile.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and musical 2021. May we all come together again soon.
Larry Beckwith